Natsu no Omoide
by Sweetbrier
Summary: CHAPTER 5 UP! Along with the summer heat, Rukawa encountered a weird girl with a cat on his way. OCxRukawaKaede. May contain OOC. Read and review if you don't mind, please? XD
1. Chapter 1

_Hello! Summer is drawing near, that's why I wrote this. No, actually it has nothing to do with it. Well, anyway— this fanfic will be OCxRukawaKaede. I am not an English native speaker so please forgive me if there's some grammatical error. I hope you enjoy this fanfic!_

_FYI: Natsu no Omoide literally means Memories of Summer/Summer Memories._

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything, except maybe the OC. (You'll learn her name on chapter 2 :D)_

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><p><em>Summer, June 12<em>

It was the beginning of the summer.

"Today's practice is over. I'll see you guys tomorrow."

Rukawa Kaede leaked out a deep sigh and wiped his sweat with his arm. It is not even summer break yet, but the sun is shining so radiant today. So even though we are playing inside the gymnasium, we are still drenched in sweat—not because we are _playing_. Rather, it was actually because of the heat. And maybe, the unnecessary tension.

"Oooooi, Rukawa! Don't you dare think that this is the end!"

_What did we start anyway?_, Rukawa turned his face away from Hanamichi Sakuragi as if he did not hear anything. He walked to the bench outside the court and grabbed a bottle of water. He leaked out a sigh, again. It is not like he hates summer; it is just that he is not fond of its heat. The water flowed through his throat feels nice, and again, he sighed.

"That was quite a big sigh."

Rukawa lifted his head a little bit to see who it is. Not necessary—he already knows who it was. It was Ayako, their team manager. He did not say anything in respond, but that does not make Ayako stop her step towards him. "We are planning to go to karaoke today, are you coming?"

"I'll pass." Rukawa tossed the empty bottle in his hand to the nearest trash bin and the bottle went in smoothly. He is been sighing because of the heat, and these people are trying to drag him with them—for karaoke. An absolute rejection.

"You have anything to do after this?" She stood beside him with her two arms crossed in front of her chest.

"Nothing." He replied shortly. He turned his eyes off the court and grabbed his backpack. He really is not planning to do anything, but he would not bother with going to karaoke. Never. Suddenly, Ayako clapped her and tightly closed her eyes.

"Then, please! Do me a favor!" She begged.

"…A favor?"

"Yeah. Well, you know, I borrowed a book from the public library because my teacher forced me to and that book is due today. Meaning, I have to ditch the karaoke thing just to return that book, so can you do me a favor and return it? It won't take long, I'm sure!"

_I do not want to,_ he thought, but he did not say it. Instead, he answered her with a short nod. He does not even understand why he agreed to help her. After that, she takes out a book from her bag and handed it to Rukawa, who took it without saying a word. He put that book inside his backpack and he went to the locker room to change his jersey to his uniform.

Within a few minutes, Rukawa already sat on his bike, taking a short route to the public library. He just wants to get this over and go somewhere else. Even now, he still regrets why he accepted Ayako's favor. He rode on his bike with speed since the road was empty but all of a sudden, a cat showed up running from the back alley and someone jumped to the road to catch it.

With a loud noise, he finally could get control and stopped his back in time just before his bike crashed and hit the person who jumped out of nowhere. "…Do you have some kind of death wish?" He does not think that someone could die just because a bike hit them, but this one was a dangerous one.

A black haired girl lifted her face and she was holding the black cat in her arms. "I really thought I was going to die." She said with a trembling but yet relieved voice.

"…Are you still alive?"

"I think my heart stopped."

"No kidding?"

"I'm absolutely kidding."

She stood up and tried to fix her hair but the cat still wriggle in her arms. She is not really tall, probably around 160. Her hair was a ponytailed one, but if she let her hair down, it is probably quite long. "I'm so sorry for jumping out of a blue." She bowed a little. "But you know, this buddy is really like to run away from me so I have no choice other than that."

"….."

That girl tilts her head. "Say something! I'm not dead, aren't I? Don't tell me I am!"

"…You are alive. Now move."

She glanced to the ground, realized that she is in the way. "Oh sorry." She moved a little bit to the side to make a way. "Are you Rukawa Kaede?"

Rukawa stared at her with cold looking eyes. "So what if I am?"

"Nothing. And you don't have to be that cold." She answered and shrugged. "You are quite famous and my friends have been talking about you. Well, everyone in the school knows you."

He glanced at her uniform—it was Shohoku uniform, and he did not realize it even a bit. "… Don't suddenly jumped out of nowhere again." He pushed his bike and the next second already sat on it.

"Right," she murmured. She looked at her watch and gasped. "Oh, I have to go to work. This black cat says that he is happy you stopped your bike right in time. Then, bye."

She ran so fast back to the alley and with just a minute, she disappeared from Rukawa's sight. He sighed deeply once again, pushed the pedals and rode his bike back. She knows his name, but Rukawa did not know anything about her—even her name. _It is not important,_ he thought.

"…Weird girl." He murmured and went out from there.


	2. Chapter 2

_Hello! Finally I get an access to the internet with my laptop after one whole week. Thank you so much for the reviews, I really appreciated it. I hope you all enjoy chapter 2! X3_

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><p><em>Summer, June 13<em>

_There are various reasons why you can't forget about summer. Its heat, heavy atmosphere—and most of the time, you don't really need a reason why you can't forget about it. Even about the slightest thing—the sunshine._

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><p>"… It's hot." Rukawa murmured with his fingers rested on his eyes to prevent the sun from touching his eyes directly. The class already started fifteen minutes ago, but he didn't move from his favorite spot on the rooftop. He's sleepy but he couldn't sleep, and going to the class isn't a good idea. Most likely, the teacher will scold him from falling asleep during class—and even though he doesn't care, he just doesn't want to be in trouble. He just wants to spend his time to sleep peacefully.<p>

"It is. The sunlight is really radiant, right?"

"That's true." Rukawa closed his eyes just to open it up again after a few seconds. "Who are you?"

A long, black-haired girl—without ponytail today—sits beside him. She stretched her legs and gently stroked the fur of a black cat on her laps. A slight smile that covered her face changed to a frown in a second. "That's rude, I've been here since forever."

Rukawa didn't answer a thing, but he rolled his body to the other side so that he doesn't have to see the girl with a cat beside him. A wind blows several times before stopped, leaving the heat of the sun alone. The cat meowed once and then went back to sleep when the girl's hands kept stroking its fur carefully and gently despite the heat.

"It's a nice day to take a nap, isn't it?" the girl said once again. Rukawa still didn't answer, leaving the girl to talk by herself, hoping that she will get bored and then leave. But she didn't no matter how hard Rukawa pray inside his head. Actually, he is ruder than this, but when it's something that involved woman, he tends to keep his mouth shut—he doesn't even know why.

"Aren't you thirsty? I'm going to buy a drink from the vending machine, you want something? Oh, and if you do, please hand me your money." She asked with a grin on her face after awhile. Rukawa still didn't say anything. Instead, he gets up and walked out the rooftop. The girl watched him disappeared and turned her eyes away, still stroking the cat's fur lightly. Probably thinking that Rukawa's leaving for good.

"Oi."

The girl turned her eyes to the source of the voice—Rukawa, who stood behind and handed her an orange juice while he's sipping a bottle of coke himself. "I don't like orange juice." She replied with a grin. Rukawa is about to drew his hand back when that girl suddenly grabbed the orange juice. "I'm kidding." She said. "Can't you tell the difference between someone who's kidding and who's not?"

After that, she fell silent for a long time and a wind blows, made her hair flows softly. It was when Rukawa closely look at her when he realized that girl is pretty. _Well, I'm just saying she's not bad_, he told himself. There's no way he would admit it. And he's not interested in that kind of thing, anyway. They were silent for quite a long period of time before the black cat woke up and meowed. "Isn't it prohibited to bring a pet to the school?" he asked.

She looked up at him and smiled faintly. "It's fine as long as the teachers don't know about it. That's why keep this a secret, okay, Rukawa-kun?" She moved the cat's paw at Rukawa, to make it sound like it's the cat who's begging. The cat just meowed weakly and closed its eyes again, back to its afternoon nap. "Ara, even at this heat he can sleep so soundly."

Rukawa sits on his usual spot, sighed after he finished his coke. "Are you a first-grader?" he asked without expression—as if whether she's going to tell him or not, it's not going to bother him at all. The girl pierced him a quick glance before turned her eyes away to the sky above them.

A summer sky.

"You can say that." She answered as she narrowed her eyes a little bit. "What, is it strange?"

"Just because I never saw you before."

"Mhm." She muttered. "Have you ever tried to look at your surroundings?"

"No."

That girl laughed silently. "As I thought. Well, you are always surrounded by people maybe that's why you never noticed me before. As for me, I always notice you. You stand out, anyway."

"I don't care." He answered without tone.

"I know." She replied softly. This time, Rukawa pierced her with cold looking eyes, but she didn't react at all. She just sat there, showing him the same faint smile while her hand keeps stroking the cat's soft fur. "I can tell whether someone is feeling lonely, annoyed, worry, happy or maybe sad. Even without them telling me, I can tell just by looking at them. Isn't that strange? But I'm sorry, if I'm unnecessarily meddling into your business. Or if I've said something I shouldn't have. I'm sorry—it's a bad habit of mine."

Rukawa looks away from her. He didn't think like that. No, it's _not_ like that at all. "Don't misunderstand." He rested his left hand on his knee. "I didn't mean it that way."

She looks astonished for a moment before she smiled warmly after that. "… Thank you." She whispered. Rukawa heard it, but he pretends he did not just because he couldn't think of an answer. He gets up, walked towards the door. "I'm going back." He said. "What are you—"

"It's not _you. _It's Kanade." He heard her voice rose. He turned around, seeing her smiling at him. "Yaegaki Kanade." She repeated.

"…Whatever." Rukawa replied. "Aren't you going back?"

Kanade slowly shook her head. "No, I'm going to stay here a little longer." Rukawa turned his back, he's about to open the door when once again; he heard Kanade's voice calling him. "Rukawa-kun, is it okay if I come here tomorrow too?"

He didn't turn back to look at her, but he answered with a short reply. As always, without any expression or tone, before disappeared and closed the door behind him. "Do what you want."

Kanade heard the sound of the closed door and smiled. "Ne, summer is so special isn't? There are various reasons why you can't forget about summer. Its heat, heavy atmosphere—and most of the time, you don't really need a reason why you can't forget about it." She stroked the cat's head gently. The cat meowed again and purred as an answer. She lifted her head to the clear blue sky and felt the warmth of the sun lingering on her skin. "Even about the slightest thing—the sunshine."

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><p>"Yo, Rukawa." Ayako waved to him after the practice ends. She walked towards Rukawa, who is now drenched in sweat, like always. "Did you return that book yesterday?" she asked.<p>

He didn't say anything, but just gave her a short nod. The truth is, he totally forgot about that thing. After the almost-incident with the ponytailed girl, he went straight home. Went straight home, and go to sleep. When he realized, it was already morning and the book is still inside his bag, even now.

So, he got another reason to go out today after practice.

The thing is that he forgot his bike today, so he had to walk. Why did he forget so many things anyway? With his bag rested on his shoulder, he walked out the gymnasium. It was hot today—maybe even more than yesterday. As he walked out the gate, his eyes caught a figure of someone he knows. Well, not really someone he _knows_.

That girl was squatting, playing with the same black cat she always brings with her. She swung a strand of grass on her hand back and forth, while the cat foolishly followed it. Rukawa sighed. Out of all people, why did he have to encounter that girl over and over again? But maybe he should at least be thankful to the fact that girl is not as loud as the other girl who always screams on the bleachers.

Even though she still annoys him.

Kanade lifted up her face, probably realized that someone's shadow covered her. Her eyes turned to Rukawa's, who is looking at her with a cold look, then beamed him a warm smile. "Oh, are you going home now? It's already late."

"…Yeah." Rukawa answered shortly.

Kanade looked up to the ground again, to the cat, to be precise. She stroked the cat's fur a few times before the cat jumped and ran to the school building. Both Kanade and Rukawa looked at it as it is disappeared from their sight. "That cat lives in the school ground. I found him a few days back. Apparently, he isn't too nice to people, he even scratched people who draws close to him."

She laughed silently and stood up. Looking at Rukawa with her two clear eyes, she grinned. Her long hair flutters because of the wind as she speaks. "So, are we going to a date now?"

"Did you hit your head or something?" Rukawa raised an eyebrow and turned his back on her. She chuckled softly and followed him from behind. They froze in silent as they walked together. Nobody said a word, they even can listened to the buzzing insects—probably the cicadas.

"Where are we going?" Kanade asked, looked at her surroundings. Rukawa glanced at her for a second and then turned his face the other way.

"Library." He answered.

"You are taking a girl for a date to a library? What are you? Even though you seem to be popular with woman." She taunted her two eyebrows together. She raised her wrist watch to see what time it is. "Well, I guess you have to date any other girls in the library. I have to go to work."

"Hm." Rukawa muttered as an answer.

Kanade giggled and tapped Rukawa's left shoulder. "Don't look so lonely. Now, I feel bad—gotta go. Don't miss me okay? Later." She dashed and disappeard to a crowd of people who are going to cross the big street. Rukawa narrowed his eyes to see where she's going but he couldn't find her anywhere with the two eyes of his.

"Heh." Without even realizing it, Rukawa chuckled. He closed his eyes for a second and started to walk, leaving the place where he stood. He can still feel the heat of the sun even though it's starting to set.

It was summer.


	3. Chapter 3

_Hello, it's me again! Even though this chapter is short, I hope you will like it X) _

[hr]

"You know, that cloud somehow looks like a cat." Kanade pointed her finger at the white, fluffy clouds above her. She lie down on the floor while hugging the black cat in her arms. She glanced at Rukawa, who did not even budge from where he laid down. She couldn't see anything though, since she is now facing Rukawa's back. She turned her face away and the wind blows softly. She closed her eyes slowly.

Rukawa opened his eyes, said nothing and still kept his back facing her. Kanade fell silent for a few seconds, probably felt the sweet breeze brushed against her white skin. The sunlight got blocked by one of the cloud when Rukawa looked up to the sky. It is still clear blue, not as grayish as he thought.

Rukawa narrowed his eyes, and silently closes it. The warm breeze continued to blows, and he can felt its warmth between his fingers.

"Hey," Kanade's voice rose, calling him from behind his back. "Do you think it will rain?"

"Who cares?" Rukawa answered. He couldn't hear anything else after a few moment of silence. He sighed once, finally decided to end his afternoon nap. Not really afternoons nap since he couldn't fall asleep even for a minute, mostly because of _this_ girl beside him kept yapping like a fox.

"Ah, you are up. I was just thinking about drawing on your face while you are asleep."

"Get lost."

Kanade giggled, stroked the cat's fur with her free hand. "I thought about naming this cat." She squinted her eyes when she lifted up the cat on her hand. The cat meowed, looking at her curiously while she looked at the cat intently as she thinks for a name. "I can't decide what name I should give him."

She rolled her body, facing Rukawa who is now looking back at her. Rukawa raised an eyebrow when she stared at him, waiting for him to say something. He sighed and scratched his hair. "It's black, so just call it Kuro."

"Aren't you being prejudice by calling it "Kuro" just because it's black?" she protested, pouted as she rolled again and now turning her back at Rukawa. She poked the cat's head gently with her index finger.

"People do it the same way." Rukawa said, turned his gaze away from her.

"But, don't you think maybe the cat wished to be born as a white cat instead of black? Don't you think he hated how others treat him differently just because he was born as a black cat and not any other color? Maybe he never wanted to be a black cat, but he just couldn't do anything to change it anyway."

With his head still looked up to the sky, Rukawa glanced at her. Surely, he couldn't see anything other than her back. "You sound as if you are the cat yourself."

"Do I?" Kanade sits up, looked down at the cat. "I know, I will call him Shiro."

"… Why did you name him the opposite?"

"I won't take no as an answer! Mom said so, that's why Dad can't protest!"

"…"

"Right, Dad?"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"You see," Kanade grinned. "Because we are the one who gave him a name, don't you think we somehow acted like his parent?"

"… Cats don't give any name to their offspring."

"Well, because we are not cat, that's why we named him!"

Rukawa sighed and hit his stiff neck softly. "You can do what you want, just don't drag me in."

Kanade frowned and glanced at her watch, released Shiro from herself and it ran down the stairs, vanished from their sight. "Aaaw, it's already this time? I have to get to work." Rukawa turned his eyes at the girl who is now standing, stretched her stiff body and releases a heavy sigh. Her hair turned gold for a second because of the setting sun's light.

"You have work everyday?"

"Oh, are you indirectly asking me to go for a date?"

"…."

"Just kidding, but well—yeah. Not really everyday," she yawned. "Everyday except Thursday. Why are you asking?"

"No reason." He answered.

"Yeah."

"What?"

"What?"

"Why do you say 'yeah'?"

"No reason, really." She grinned and Rukawa raised an eyebrow before stands up and walking out the roof. Kanade followed him from behind, she tilted her head. "Are you angry?"

"Why should I?"

"Aaaw, just nevermind then." Kanade laughed, giving up. "But, I'll tell you something then. I work this hard because I want a camera."

"…Camera?"

"Yup," Kanade grabbed her bag and placed it on her back. "I always wanted to be a photografer, but—I don't know. My brother never let me, I mean, everytime I try to talk about it to him, he would ask me to stop. And I don't have another choice, do I?"

"Your brother?"

"Yeah. Oh, I have to hurry." She ran towards the school gate, but she stopped suddenly. "Do you want to come?"

"Come?"

"To my work place." Kanade answered. "I won't force you if you don't want to though."

A silence for a minute. "It's not like I have anything to do, so—"

"Great, let's go!" With a big smile, Kanade grabbed Rukawa's arm and pulled him to run with her.

"Don't pull my hand!"

"Aaw, come on. We have to hurry unless you want me to get fired! Oh, and don't we look like a couple, running hand by hand like this? Are we eloping?"

Silence again before all of a sudden Rukawa placed his hand on Kanade's head and messed her hair up, then he ran past her.

"Eeeeh? What the hell are you doing?" Kanade frowned, trying her best to fix her hair while she's still trying to keep up with Rukawa. Finally, she decided to forget about it and ran past him, sticked out a tongue before turned.

Rukawa chuckled but he didn't say anything. He ignored all of Kanade's complaint when he looked up at the sky, again. He doesn't even know why he always looking at the sky—the sunset and all.

They seem prettier.

That's what he thought.


	4. Chapter 4

Another short chapter! I kinda enjoyed it when I was writing this chapter, though. I wanted to write a little about Kanade so there it is. Thank you for reading and reviewing, have a nice day!

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><p>The clock read 4.26. Kanade opened her eyes, couldn't see anything but the darkness of her own room. She lay still on her bed, waiting for her eyes to get used to the darkness. After a few seconds, she crawled out from her bed down to the floor and sat behind her small wood table in front of her TV. She lazily extended her hand to reach her flashing cell phone and scratched her head even though she doesn't feel any itchy feelings. Kanade silently opened the flap of her cell with her left hand and leaned her back against the bed's leg.<p>

She noticed a few missed calls and texts. Her fingers slowly pushed the dial button and waiting for the line to be picked up. She grabbed the remote control and turned the TV on. It is a small TV with tolerable size for the small apartment unit Kanade is in. The TV was the only source of light in that room and Kanade decided to mute the sound and randomly changing the channel, looking for something interesting, but there isn't anything that caught her attention so she stopped at the news channel.

As she stopped her fingers, someone picked up her call. "Kanade, I called you countless times but you didn't pick up."

"Sorry mom," she said. "I was asleep."

Kanade's eyes were glued to the TV screen, watching the news announcer moving his lips. Kanade couldn't guess what he was talking about so instead of looking at the TV, she switched her view to the cream-colored carpet on the floor while she's listening to the woman's voice—her mother.

"It couldn't be helped then." Kanade could hear the sound of another telephone ringing on her mother's side. "At least you called me back. How is it going there?"

"Good." Kanade replied, scratching her hair again. "Are you doing well?"

"Pretty much but I've been overwhelmed by my current job for the past few weeks, sorry I couldn't return any of your e-mails or calls, it's been really crazy here." Kanade's mother said. This time, Kanade could hear her mother exhaled a breath, she guessed her mother was smoking her favorite brand at that time. "How's school?"

"Uhm," Kanade muttered then she smiled faintly. "It's been fun… I met someone really interesting."

"Let me guess, a boy?" Her mother asked, sounding like cops when they were interrogating someone for committing a crime.

"A boy and a cat." Kanade replied, almost couldn't help but to laugh. "Interesting pair, isn't it? Both of them resemble each other a lot, though." She suddenly remembered how Rukawa and Shiro can fall asleep anytime and anywhere under any conditions or weather.

"Yeah? It seems like it's a lot of fun to have such an interesting friend. But… Kanade…"

Kanade's eyes narrowed a little. Her smile fade away as soon as she thought that her mother was going to brought up a matter she doesn't want to discuss right now. "I know, mom. Don't worry." She said, trying her best to sound calm. "I already promised you, didn't I? … I told you it's only going to be until the end of the summer."

Kanade exchanged another few words with her mom, and then she cut the telephone connection between them. She stared at the cell phone's display while hugging her knees. Her thumb move slowly, carefully pushing the button on her cell as she muttered the words she is typing then sent it to the receiver.

_To: Rukawa Kaede_

_From: Yaegaki Kanade_

_Heeeey! Wake up; it is four o'clock in the morning! Wake up, wake up! Anyway, today I don't have to go to work, so let's go out somewhere. Oh, I want to go to the see, so let's meet up at the train station! 11 A.M. straight, okay? I'm off to bed, then._

_PS: If you don't show up, I will spread and sell your pictures while you're sleeping! How about 300 yen each?_

Kanade smirked, closes the flap of her cell phone and crawled back to bed.


	5. Chapter 5

_Finally I could update this (o_o) I'm so sorry for taking so long. I'm just glad the hurricane has passed. Thank you for the reviews, everyone! I hope you enjoy this chapter!_

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><p>Rukawa leaned his back against the cold station wall. He raised his face and saw the clock read 11.17. Approximately, he had been standing there for almost 20 minutes, but he still has not seen Kanade's appearance at all. Ah—he did consider that he missed the sight of her because of the crowd, still, it did not change anything.<p>

Just when he about to consider the second probability, which was to go home and sleep, he heard footsteps coming toward him. "You are late." Rukawa said tonelessly.

The girl who stood in front of him smiled as a response, but she did not say anything. Kanade wore a light blue dress along with a pair of brownish flat shoes. She looked clean and nice with her long black hair carefully braided. Her braided hair rested on her small and white shoulder, together with, strangely, a huge messenger bag.

_Rustle, rustle_.

Was that just a hint of something moving from inside the bag?

Rukawa raised an eyebrow as he silently took a closer look. He leaned closer. His eyes watched the bag intently with a strange glare, but yet, he still did not say anything.

Kanade looked down at Rukawa, and smirked. "Aren't you going to ask what is inside? I just invented a new, world-shocking invention that will shake even gods above in heaven! You should be proud of me."

_Meow_.

Rukawa switched his glare to Kanade, whose forehead was drenched in cold sweats.

"…Did you take the cat from the school ground and put it inside that lousy bag?"

"Don't call it a lousy bag!" Kanade snatched the bag and held it tightly. The meowed sound changed into a shriek. Kanade's face turned blue as she hurriedly unzipped her bag. The unzipped bag revealed a black cat, which Kanade named one-sidedly as Shiro, sitting among a stack of snacks. It moved its head a little to lick its bandaged left leg.

"…Why is it hurt?" was Rukawa's first question.

Again, no response. Kanade averted Rukawa's glance and zipped her bag back, not completely since she left enough space for air to come in. She turned and started walking ahead of Rukawa. He followed her with both of his hands tucked inside his pockets.

"Let's go. It is past eleven already."

"You are the one who came late."

"I did not."

"Did you just forget that you came 17 minutes later than the appointed time?"

Kanade stopped walking. Rukawa could not see her expression since her back was facing him as they stood inside the train. Then, she walked briskly and sat on a vacant chair while Rukawa was still standing. "I was already here even before you were… and I was waiting the whole time. I was waiting, waiting, and waiting, then I realized—what is it that I am waiting for?"

Rukawa looked down at Kanade, who was staring at her feet as she spoke. He realized that her voice was not as cheerfully annoying as usual, still, he decided not to say anything. Why would not he say anything? That was the usual him, right, what is so wrong with that? Rukawa Kaede would not bother with other people's business—yet, there was a part of him who made him felt like he was obliged to say something. He brushed that part of slight loneliness off him.

"I was confident you wouldn't come. I was blackmailing you after all, and that was just a lie."

A pause.

"What was what?"

"Ah, the pictures of you, it was just a lie. I don't have any. I don't want to be stamped as a stalker, you know."

Another pause.

Rukawa turned and ready to walk out of the train when suddenly Kanade tightly grabbed his arm. As she lifted her face, Rukawa saw a cunning glint in her eyes. An angelic smile then covered her face when she spoke. "Aiyaa, isn't it just a little too late for you to run away, Rukawa-kun?"

Right after Kanade finished her line, the train's door closed. A sound of a bell ringed from the speaker. The train started moving briskly. "_We are now departing. The next stop would be Asakusa station. I repeat, we are now departing. The next stop would be Asakusa station._"

"See?" Kanade laughed. She leaned her back against the chair. "Isn't it such a good luck for you to be trapped here with me? You probably squandered your lifetime's fortune just for today."

"Much more like a misfortune."

Kanade tilted her head. With the corner of her eyes, she watched Rukawa. For a slight second, the cunning glint in her eyes changed into a lonesome look. "…You are probably right." She said. "Every one who is associated with me will probably end up with a bad luck. It is such a shame, isn't it?"

She stared back at her feet as she hugged her back tightly. "My mother, my big brother, and Shiro too… You probably as well. It is so pathetic, don't you think? I would be better off alone, after all."

Rukawa watched her without saying anything. He walked closer and took a seat besides her. In contrary of Kanade, who was looking down to her feet, Rukawa lifted his face up, watching the ceiling as the train moving. There were a few posters of the new movie or artists, but nothing really caught his eyes. He was looking up to the ceiling, but he was not seeing anything. It was just the same as the girl besides him.

They were sunk in silence with no one said anything to break the ice, but strangely, it does not feel weird or awkward at all. It was just as if the sound of the moving train transmitted everything they need to say, yet, there was not anything transmitted, and there was not anything they had to say either.

"Is Shiro okay with that injury?" Rukawa asked without throwing a glance at Kanade. Kanade did not either, but she could felt her eyes burning, for whatever reason she does not understand herself.

"I don't know. Shiro is in bad luck," she said. "because Shiro was associated with me."

"I don't really believe in superstitious things."

"Well, you just have to."

"What you believe or what you aren't doesn't really matter, right?"

"How can you say that so easily?" Kanade demanded.

"Because I don't believe you," Rukawa said. He tilted his head to look at her now. "and it doesn't really matter. I don't believe you, but I'm here, sitting right beside you. Do you call it a bad luck too, considering the fact that you are the one who doesn't want me to leave?"

"What, it is so unusual for you to be so talkative today." A sincere smile warped Kanade's face. The lonesome look in her eyes was still there when she met Rukawa in the eye. "Was that bad luck, too?"

He looked at her long, before answered: "I don't know. Was it?"

A silent laugh leaked out of Kanade's lips. "You are unexpectedly funny, you know that?"

After a little while, Kanade's smile stiffened.

"You aren't going to ask?"

"What about?"

"About the reason why Shiro's leg was bandaged."

"I did ask."

"I mean, again. You don't have to drop the subject because you feel bad."

"Do you want me to ask about it?"

"Fifty-fifty," she answered. "because I don't believe you either. I don't believe you, but I wonder why I always run into you? Isn't that just strange? I thought you will be the last person on earth I will run to, but it seems like the universe doesn't recognize me anymore—and you were the only person left to run to.

Is it weird to think that out of all people, it was _you_, and not anybody else? I still couldn't figure out the answer yet. I said 'yet' but I don't even know whether I want to know the answer or not. All that I could grasp was that, for some reason, I felt relieved whenever I run to you. I discovered many things that I thought I would never even dream about. I feel like a stupid. Do you understand what I'm talking about? I bet you aren't. I doubt you are even listening."

"I don't." Rukawa answered shortly.

"You are one honest fellow, aren't you?" Kanade said. Another sincere smile covered her face, brushing the stiffened smile off.

"But," Rukawa continued. "as long as you feel happy, then it doesn't matter whether you know the answer or not. At least that is what I think you should think."

As if she just discovered something important, Kanade's eyes widened. Her mouth was hanging open, but there is not any sound leaked out from her lips. Not even a chuckle, and she could not believe that herself. She thought she should be laughing, taking everything as a joke, and then laughs as hard as she could as the result—but she just could not. When she came to her senses, she realized that her heart was pulsing like crazy, and her cheeks were flustered heavily.

"Are you implying that whenever I'm with you, then I feel happy?"

"Hah?"

Kanade hurriedly turned her face away from Rukawa. There was just no way she would let anyone realize that she was blushing for whatever reason, again, she does not completely aware. "…You said that was what you want me to think. Then, what about you, yourself?"

"What about me?"

"Are you happy?"

This time, Rukawa stiffened. Was he happy, or not? How was he supposed to know something like that? He never thought about such things. All he ever knew was that he loved basketball. He wanted to be the best player in Japan, but that was all he knew. He knew nothing about the _happiness_ she was talking about.

"I'm annoyed whenever I see you." Rukawa turned his eyes away from Kanade's. Again, he looked down, without really anything to see. "However, I never thought of it as a bad luck, much more a bad thing."

The only sound they could hear after that was the sound of the moving train. It is just as if they were isolated inside their own world. Neither Rukawa nor Kanade made a sound until the train stopped moving, and they heard the woman's voice from the speaker, informed every one inside that the train has arrived in Asakusa station.

"Hey, Rukawa-kun."

Rukawa looked up, and saw Kanade smiling brightly at him.

"Let's elope together."


End file.
